Summer is flying by and this is the first time I’ve been to the monthly car show that is all of two miles away. Part of it has been due to traveling and Missouri Monsoon Season interfering. Enough of the excuses; let’s look at some cars.

This 1975 Pontiac Grand Am was a delightful surprise. Pontiac churned out all of 8,600 two-doors for the year; the interior looked a whole lot like a 1975 Grand Prix.

I really don’t like getting people in the shot, but they would not get their happy selves out of the way. Plus, cars come and go rapidly; I had already missed getting pictures of a ’70 Plymouth GTX.

However, this is a generally a very good show, as it brings a lot of rarely seen items out of the woodwork. That is pronounced “Vur-Sales”, incidentally.

Since I headlined this with there being E-bodies, let’s at least whet our appetite with a few Chrysler products. If this terrific, captivating black Dart isn’t for you,

And you don’t like the color of this 1968 Charger,

Then how about a Roadrunner from 1970?

Or a drop-top Road Runner from 1969?

After my post the other day that was co-authored with my daughter, I realized I have been a big-picture type of guy, not focusing so much on the details of cars. So on a few cars at this show, I let myself pay attention to the finer details. No, this isn’t a 1965 Mercury.

It’s a 1970ish Cadillac Coupe deVille, one of the longest cars there.

On the other end of the size spectrum was this King Midget. Oddly, their colors aren’t too far apart.

The randomness of cars on display is always intriguing. For instance, Ford was well represented for the 1956 model year with this Club Sedan,

This Victoria,

And this Crown Victoria. Each was a step up the prestige ladder at Ford and any would be welcomed in my garage.

Since we are talking 1956, here’s a nice DeSoto Firedome convertible.

I need to start paying more attention to details. This is a really captivating car.

Did I mention there were E-bodies? There were E-bodies.

When was the last time you saw a trailer hitch on one?

I was able to witness this purple one pull into the parking lot. Ms. Gem Whitman crossed my mind given its purple color.

This dark blue is more my color. There is at least one more in this area, as twice this past week I saw a silver-gray one heading south on US 63 around 3:30 in the afternoon.

Did I mention surprises in the headline? Here’s one. Or maybe it’s two.

This 1971 Ford LTD wasn’t the only Niedermeyer-mobile in attendance.

I’m joking; Paul hasn’t purchased a 1971 LTD – yet.

A 1966 Ford F-100 was also present. However, this one has a 352 cubic inch (5.8 liter) V8 (instead of a six-cylinder) and the 6.5′ bed (instead of the 8 footer). It’s still a three-speed, but without overdrive.

On second thought, maybe this truck isn’t so similar to Paul’s.

Let’s look at some Studebaker’s.

There’s no better place to start than with this 1948 Land Cruiser.

I was able to overhear the owner state he had driven it well over 100 miles today, but he had been fighting a clogged fuel line intermittently. Having heard the engine running as the owner drove in, its flathead six sounded awesome.

Seeing it parked next to this Studebaker pickup was quite the visually delighting match.

This 1954 Commander was also on hand, and I was able to watch the owner park it.

The interior of this car is understated elegance.

Again, the small details really help to set it apart from the sea of hum-drum surrounding it.

The newest Studebaker present was this 1958 Champion.

Some of the 1958 models were built with dual headlights despite being designed for four. Some states were still being quirky about allowing four-headlight systems around this time. It’s not the most complimentary face from that model year.

Looking at details can reveal a lot. This is the right front fender of the 1958 Studebaker. It is readily apparent how Studebaker monkeyed with the existing design to incorporate the four headlight system. This car was also intriguing in how the tail fins bolted on; sadly, I did not get a quality show of that. Studebaker deserves a lot of credit for their creativity during the last two decades of their existence.

This 1963 Mercury Meteor S-33 may likely be the first Meteor I’ve ever seen in the metal.

The Meteor was never a strong seller, with this S-33 being one of only 4,865 produced that year. However, it still sold better than most of the other trims and body styles available that year.

This car appeared to be very original. Look closely; I doubt this would have happened during any restoration.

Since I started with a GM product, it just seems appropriate to end with one. I’m really starting to dig these details.

Details like that really add to the allure to be found with a 1969 Impala convertible.

There’s another show next month; let’s see what the weather does. Hopefully all the flash flooding is over.

44 Comments

Random thoughts lacking any cohesiveness:
Love the color on that rare Grand Am. Whitewalls would make it look even better to me.
That old Land Cruiser is just perfect — I’d love to see more cars like this in shows.
The yellow Commander is one of the most beautiful Studebakers I’ve ever seen.
You captured my favorite feature of the ’71 LTD: its center tail light/brake light.
That F100 is amazing…..but the non-SS 427 Impala convertible has me salivating over this keyboard. This car, exactly as it sits would be my personal holy grail…and is one of the few cars that those Chevy Rally Wheels belong on IMO.

‘Preciate it Mr. Cavanaugh! I don’t know what day this show was, but I wasn’t far away from the location, broken down on I70 in Marshall, MO last Sunday in my “new” prize. Cause: same as Mr. Studebaker’s above, only he actually made it to his destination.

So don’t leave us in suspense, what is the new prize? I’m guessing some variety of A body Colonnade?

Good thing we aren’t having a caption contest, I would find it hard to resist “Chevrolet-driver’s eye view.” 🙂 That said, I have had that view from more than one of my favorite cars (as has Jason Shafer). I hope you got it sorted out and on your way.

Scott

Posted July 2, 2015 at 3:46 PM

Looks like the same hood on my 73′ Monte…

Bill Mitchell

Posted July 2, 2015 at 7:32 PM

I’d say a Chevrolet colonnade especially with those louvers. It looks pretty close to my Dad’s old Malibu, even has the same centre speaker hole.

junqueboi

Posted July 3, 2015 at 3:35 PM

FUNNY on the “Chevrolet Driver’s Eye View” 🙂 Actually, the car made it another 800 miles before emitting a spectacular cloud of smoke on I77 in Beckley, WV! I ended up renting a car to get home & towing the sucker back. The journey finally ended at 5AM this morning. I am a total zombie right now.

Hmmm, I’m guessing a 1973 Grand Prix is the new chariot. Or a ’73 Grand Ville.

junqueboi

Posted July 3, 2015 at 3:43 PM

Jason you couldn’t be much closer without nailing it. It’s a Golden Olive 1973 Catalina sedan that was recently on E-bay & Craigslist. I succumbed to its taunting & caved *sigh*

Here it is at the only place around Kansas City that actually had whitewall tires in stock — well, they had three of them anyway. The worn out originals (at least I think they were original) still held air but were a wee bit sketchy for the 1000 mile trip home!

All the Imnpala needs, is the concealed headlight option!! 🙂
The Challenger w/ the hitch looks to have been a 318 car,(no exhaust valence cutouts), the tailight panel in these are sometimes painted black/body color, but originally were argent silver; the dark blue one would have a 360 c.i. engine. That “Plum Crazy” ‘Cuda is tasty, and the teal Grand Am is stunning; ( I LIKE whitewalls too & agree w/ JB!!! 🙂

Special thanks for the Studie details. The pre-fan shroud on the ’48 is weird engineering. If the radiator was so marginal that it needed a venturi effect, seems like it would have been cheaper to build a larger radiator. This setup would prevent bug-cleaning.

The pods on the ’58 are just weird. If a buyer HAD to get a Studie in ’58, the Scotsman was still attractive. Honest single headlights and honest tailfins. I can’t see why anybody would have chosen this strange cobbled-up mess.

Wow, that’s a whole lotta Studebakery in a generalized car show. I am a huge sucker for the 1947-49 Land Cruiser, with it’s big six and extra long wheelbase. As for the 58 Champion, the twin headlights were optional on Champions, but quads (that were standard on Commanders and Presidents) were optional. I cannot remember the last time I saw a 57-58 Stude at a show. I hope that’s a Studebaker V8 I see under there in place of the 170 flathead six, but probably not. Great finds!

That 56 DeSoto convertible is pretty close to a unicorn, too. As is the King Midget. Actually, I don’t think there is a single car in your selection that I would refuse garage space to.

We have a 1963 King Midget in storage. My grandparents bought it new from Popular Mechanics magazine for my polio afflicted grandpa. Not quite sure what to do with it, but glad we have it. Thats him in the driver’s seat.

Easy – get it out of storage, clean it up, then drive it to the grocery store for milk and bread. 🙂 I don’t know what it is, but I love King Midgets. And I have no idea why. The ultimate simple stripper? The 1967 Crosley? Something that makes a 62 Lark look elegant and well finished? Pick one.

I agree – in an era when most manufacturers were giving special names to their new 2-door hardtops, Studebaker’s big-deal car was a long-wheelbase sedan, the Land Cruiser. The South Bend folks finally came out with a 2-door hardtop in 1952, another example of new parts having to be made for one year of production.

That Grand Am is just all kinds of win! It definitely needs either whitewalls or white lettered tires, my vote is for the old school BF Goodrich tires. THAT would be period-correct.

The other cars ringing my bell in this collection are the Meteor and the Studey pickup. That generation of Meteor reminds me greatly of my father’s 1962 Fairlane. As it should, since they were very similar.

That Stude pickup reminds me of a guy down the road from my childhood home who had a custom painted 1949 Ford pickup with a 327 Corvette motor in it. It had mag wheels and stack exhausts (like a diesel semi tractor) All of the neighborhood kids wanted to ride around in the bed of that truck. And the guy who owned it was pretty cool about taking a bunch of us kids to the local ice cream stand. I really do like resto-mods…

Some killer finds! I really like that Grand Am. The color rocks, for one. And the front clip looks like Jeep attempted a car in an alternate universe…its wierd as hell so Im a fan. Im diggin that pick em up Stude. Those things are just born to be street rods. In fact, i saw about a half dozen of these before I realized that the beds hadnt been treated to some fancy bodywork to smooth them out–this is how they’re designed.

Mopars are well represented here. That dart looks classy and dapper. My fave is the blue roadrunner…can’t improve on that at all! I do love a clean E body…what self respecting Mopar junkie doesn’t? I do prefer ‘Cudas to Challys but blue with black wins hands down over purple. Besides anyone with the cajones to proudly rock a crusty trailer hitch on a Challenger is my kinda dude…or girl, as the case may be.

Quite the turn-out at this show. Some other nice cars in the background too. At one time, I probably would’ve said my favorite of the bunch was the purple Cuda, but today I would pick the ’56 DeSoto convertible. 1956 Chryslers and DeSotos have really grown on me. My second favourite is the red ’69 Road Runner convertible. I like the grille of a ’70 RR better, but the ’69 in that colour scheme and wearing Magnum 500 wheels and red stripe tires has a great look.

Regarding the Meteor “WOLSAC”, there’s a restored Pontiac that I sometimes see at car shows. The hood has individual letters that spell “PONTAIC”. I’ve never met the owner to ask him/her if the I and A were transposed on purpose.

It drives me nuts when you’re standing there, camera up, trying to compose a shot and someone walks in front of me and hovers around the car. Some people are quite oblivious. It’s been better since I got a wide angle lens for my DSLR because I can stand close enough to the car that I’m in their peripheral vision when they walk up and they notice me. The wide angle lens is also great for taking close-up shots with some neat fisheye effects.

Back in the sixties, one of our Aussie car magazines had a picture of a Cortina which had come from the factory with the letters spelling “Coritna”. The caption would now be regarded as racist, so I won’t repeat it.
Cue Don Andreina racing off to his stack of old magazines to leaf through and find it…..

Hard to believe that a company that could produce the progressive stylings of the ’48 Commander Land Cruiser and tour-de-force of the ’54 Commander Starliner hardtop could deteriorate to the point of the ungainly, patchwork ’58 Champion. The dual-headlight pods were done at the insistence of the marketing department even though there wasn’t enough money to do the tooling properly to the fender dies. To add visual insult to injury, those large singles set in the wide rims were standard on ’58 Champions but the ’58 Scotsman strippers kept the ’57 pod-less fenders. The flaring tail fins, as visual tie to the Hawks, were also tacked onto the ’56-’57 rear quarters, the seams covered by stainless trim and molding strips. They just plugged the ends with those tear-drop reverse lights. Cars without the option got a rarely seen, dummy tin-can cover stamping.

The ’58 Studebakers sedans and wagons demonstrate what a completely broke car company has to do to stay alive, holding onto hope they could bridge to the promise of the Lark. The Scotsman was the car that generated enough cash-flow to keep them going, though at no real profit….but cash flow is cash flow and sometimes enough.

All the models without quad headlights should’ve just retained the old front fenders IMO. Those tacked-on pods do the car no favors. OTOH, I think they did a great job integrating the tacked-on fins, especially on cars with 2-tone paint. The chrome strip on the backside of the fin looks like it belongs there to divide the two colours, not just to hide a seam.

I very vaguely remember either a TV spot or shot in a magazine of someone squeezing the plastic snout on the Grand Am. In those years some of the most newsworthy features had to do with impact bumpers. I remember the honeycomb inner-structure of the Saab 99 bumper got a lot of air play.

Love the wrapround rear window on the ’56 De Soto convertible. It’s really neat, the way it mimics the shape of the hardtop’s rear window. I thought it was a hardtop until I enlarged the photo.
You’ve got a great eye for details.

You’ve topped your coverage of last year’s Jeff City show, Jason. Seeing that Challenger with an original local dealer sticker has brought about another case of the CC Effect. Today work brought me to the Walmart in Waterloo, IL. When I came out there was an ’89 Chrysler Fifth Avenue (it had an airbag so it had to be an ’89) parked beside me The thing was in immaculate condition and had an original sticker from the local Mopar store in Waterloo. Were it not occupied (by its likely original owner) I’d of taken a shot or two.

I’ve driven Route 3 from Jefferson Barracks to my parent’s house south of Carbondale more than I can remember. Waterloo on down through Chester generally has some pretty decent finds. The Merkur XR4Ti I wrote about some time ago was found on a city street in Waterloo!

There were a lot of classy designs in the 1956 model year, like the DeSoto and Fords pictured. Things started to go wacky and weird in 1957, and that ’58 Studebaker is a good example of the downward spiral.

Love that ’75 Grand Am, reminds me of my mother’s former ’73 Monte Carlo in the same color.

Nice pictures of the Studebakers. Attached is my 56 for reference. You can see the small changes they made for 58. Of course in 59, on a lark, they chopped the front and back off and introduced it as a Lark. That gave them a few more years before all was lost.

56 was just a heavily face-lifted 55. It was supposed to be a one year only model as they were expecting financing for the new Studebaker Packard range. Of course, that never happened, and they also depended on defense contracts which withered away because former GM boss Charlie Wilson became the US Secretary of Defense.